bushranger

any of the bandits of the Australian bush, or outback, who harassed the settlers, miners, and Aborigines of the frontier in the late 18th and 19th centuries and whose exploits figure prominently in Australian history and folklore. Acting individually or in small bands, these variants of the classical bandit or highwayman followed the usual pattern of robbery, rape, and murder. They specialized in robbing, or "bailing up," stagecoaches, banks, and small settlements. From 1789, when John Caesar (called "Black Caesar") took to the bush and probably became the first bushranger, until the 1850s, the bushrangers were almost exclusively escaped convicts. From the 1850s until their disappearance after 1880, most bushrangers were free settlers who had run afoul of the law. The last major bushranger-and also the most celebrated-was Ned Kelly (1855-80).